Bell Labs is a mere shadow of its former fabled glory. But it is still home to excellent research, so what does the 1 December acquisition of Lucent Technologies, its parent company, by Alcatel augur for Bell? Will there be layoffs? An increased emphasis on directed research? A boost for basic research? “People have been through a lot in the last few years,” says Art Ramirez, a materials physicist and director of device physics research at Bell. “I think there’s a wait-and-see attitude.”
Today the remnants of the physical sciences team that built Bell Labs’s Nobel Prize–studded reputation number around 100 researchers, down from perhaps 400—and some estimates put the earlier high at twice that. The full Bell Labs, which includes research, technology development, and commercialization, has 650–700 employees. Alcatel’s research and innovation counterpart is of comparable size, with a more applied emphasis. Although they are in close contact, the...
